Still Plenty of Tickets Left for Avatar Day!

By now, you’ve probably heard the sad tale of an Avatar Day ruined: James Cameron’s plan to Internet-distribute free tickets for this Friday’s screening of his upcoming 3-D, theater-saving, life-changing movie spectacular was such a resounding success that servers were melted in yesterday’s fanboy stampede. So why are there still so many seats left? Jeffrey Wells points out that, according to the resuscitated Avatar Day website, tickets in big cities have mostly been claimed, though between coasts there are still plenty available, even a day later.

Even more telling is the lack of a secondary market: There’s one optimistic guy on eBay offering passes to a Los Angeles screening for the “Buy It Now” price of $500, but bidders should probably know there are still a few other L.A. showings that haven’t sold out. On Craigslist’s New York site, we only found two pairs of tickets for sale, though, disappointingly, neither seller seems interested in bartering for sexual favors, illegal narcotics, or human organs.

Are people in rural areas unenthusiastic about driving for an hour and standing in line just to watch a fifteen-minute clip? That sounds reasonable! Could it be that filmgoers find it difficult to get excited about a movie for which there isn’t yet a trailer, only a single ridiculous promotional photo? It probably could be! Or — horror! — has James Cameron overestimated the public’s craving for a two-and-a-half-hour 3-D movie about silly-looking blue things?